Changing Seasons:The Story of Art History at La Trobe

Art History Alumni Chapter

© 2017 Art History Alumni Chapter, La Trobe University

This project was supported by a grant from the Pitch Your

Project committee for the 50 Years at La Trobe Celebrations

Figure 2 Leonard French, The Four Seasons, 1978, glass mosaicClockwise from top left: Winter, Spring, Autumn, Summer (Photo: La Trobe University Facebook Page)

COVER:

Figure 1 View of Glenn College from Simpson Place, La Trobe Bundoora (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

This project would not have been possible without the enthusiastic contribution of the La Trobe Art History

community, whose recollections of their time as students and staff fill these pages. All of the quotes scattered

throughout come from people who were kind enough to share their stories with us.

It is our hope that this will become a living document, growing and changing with your additions and

amendments.

Written by Livia Kenney

Foreword

1

La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus, was created by visionaries who not only built a campus

sympathetic to its surroundings, they also saw the value of engaging artists to create works

which were integrated into the landscape.

It was this same vision that saw the appointment of Peter Tomory, a gallery director and curator,

to develop a department of Art History. Tomory built a nationally recognised Art History

department by bringing in the best and brightest lecturers and tutors. This resulted in many of

the students going on to become directors of galleries, curators and lecturers throughout the

world.

This book is the story of Art History at La Trobe University through enlightened times and

changing seasons.

Sandra Nicholson, Chairperson, La Trobe Art History Alumni Chapter

Beginnings

2

From its very conception, the vision for La Trobe University was for a place that encouraged new ideas and intellectual risk-taking. The university’s founders wanted to build a lively community of students and staff from across demographic lines, who would come together to experience knowledge, not just study it.

It was important that the environment support this, and the visionary master plan of Architect Roy Simpson integrated visual art within the landscape and built environment. Furthermore, Simpson’s foresight in documenting in works of art the process of turning swampy farmland into a modern university formed the beginning of the La Trobe University Art Collection.

The vision was also clear in the administrative choice to establish committees and senates in place of traditional boards, and impose upon them the requirement that professorial and junior staff would work together. And the founding vision was clear in the College system, which was intended as a central point for students and staff alike, and which encouraged engagement beyond the classroom.

La Trobe’s Art History programme took this vision and ran with it. It was fundamentally different to other departments in Victoria and around Australia. Founded on a combination of academic rigour and professional engagement, the department of Art History became a community of like minds. For so many, studying art history at La Trobe was not just an education but an experience.

Even when things were difficult, and even when the university itself seemed to stray from its own founding vision, people stayed. Throughout the many years that Art History has existed at La Trobe, and in its many guises, its people were always the reason for its success.

The first of those people was Professor Peter Tomory.

Figure 3 Aerial view of La Trobe University and Mont Park sites taken in 1963 (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

22

16 years later, having left his mark on New Zealand, Tomory left for Australia to take up the

position as Professor of the History of Art at La Trobe University in 1972. The openness that

had characterised the university administration’s vision presented the opportunity to develop

something entirely new. In contrast with Australia’s older universities, Tomory was keen that the

La Trobe Art History department would follow an American model, providing for students a

thorough and comprehensive education that allowed for deep learning across the continuum of

western art history, from Ancient Greek and Roman to Contemporary Australian, with

opportunities to specialise in the honours and postgraduate years. This was in contrast with the

more commonly followed European model, which narrowed faculties to a few areas of

specialisation. Tomory’s pioneering disciplinary structure was an easy sell in a place that from

its beginning encouraged innovative ways of thinking about traditional academics. Not only was

this advantageous for students, but it provided a unique opportunity for scholars to teach their

specialty with greater detail and depth than elsewhere in Australia – an exciting prospect within

the Australian job market, which could boast very few positions for art historians. Tomory

immediately began drawing together an impressive faculty comprised of young, enthusiastic

scholars, whom he chose specifically for their specialisations and academic merits. In this way,

Art History at La Trobe commenced, built on a foundation of passion, invention and academic

excellence that would serve the students well and fit comfortably within the pioneering culture of

La Trobe University.

After early success as an Assistant

Curator at the York City Art Gallery, and

having curated travelling exhibitions for

a number of arts organisations, Peter

Tomory’s keen and curious mind led

him to seek out other opportunities.

In 1956, he travelled to New Zealand

and joined Auckland City Art Gallery as

Director; a move that would cement his

reputation as a visionary within his

field. Within New Zealand Tomory’s

tenure is considered pivotal to the

achievements of the gallery in building

significant national collections and

exhibitions.

Figure 4 Peter Tomory unboxing new Degas sculpture at Auckland City Art Gallery (Photo: Auckland Star, 1956 via

Auckland Art Gallery Online Collection)

3

Art has always been an important part of life at La Trobe. From the university’s earliest

conception, architect Roy Simpson had intended to incorporate art into his buildings.

Figure 5 Architect Roy Simpson sitting under large red gum tree [exact location unknown] prior to site development, (Photo: La Trobe University

Media Library, 1965)

He considered it an essential part of a well-rounded university experience, and understood its

value in facilitating staff wellbeing. In 1966 Simpson commissioned three paintings, by Gareth

Jones-Roberts, Leonard Lloyd Annois and Charles William Bush, to commemorate the landscape

and the university’s beginnings. From these three images of the Bundoora site before

construction, the collection would grow to include 2413 works.1

4

Figure 6 Inge King at the erection of her sculpture 'Dialogue of Circles' in the Moat adjoining the Union Moat Theatre in 1976 (Photo: La Trobe University Media

Library)

With a strong Australian focus, the La Trobe University Art Collection contains art from the mid-

twentieth century to the contemporary, including paintings, photography, works on paper,

ceramics, mixed media and digital media. Plans for La Trobe’s Bundoora campus also

incorporated a sculpture park, which now boasts around 20 public works, including Dialogue of

Circles (1976), a large-scale sculpture by Inge King. One of the best-known pieces is Allen David’s

glass screen, commissioned to adorn the entrance to the library for the university’s opening in

1967. As well, Leonard French’s glass panel installation, The Four Seasons (1975) is a favourite

of the university community. While the collection was never intended as a teaching tool, its

presence around the Bundoora campus impacted upon, and was influenced by, the Art History

department and its members. In 1973, a year after he began and the first official year of art

history teaching at La Trobe, Professor Peter Tomory was appointed Chair of the Art Advisory

Committee, a group responsible for advising the Vice Chancellor on the acquisition and

management of the art collection, including decisions regarding display and storage.2

5

While the appointment of Peter Tomory to the position of Professor was officially made in 1972,

Art History did not appear in the handbook until 1973.

Listed as The History and Theory of Art within the School of Humanities, the entry stated, “First-

year studies in this discipline will be announced at a later date” and directed enquiries to the

Assistant Dean of the School of Humanities. The only first year subject and a requirement for all

students was Art History 1, in which Tomory taught a broad survey of European art, covered

academic methodologies and included some basic theory. Lucy Ellem joined the faculty in 1973

and taught Art History 1 alongside Tomory, with the support of tutor Christopher Uhl. Before

arriving at La Trobe Uhl had authored a significant early monograph on Albert Tucker, which was

published by Lansdowne in 1969.

Figure 7 View of Allen David’s ‘Untitled (Glass screen)’ 1967, from inside the new lounge in the Borchardt Library (Photo: Webb Consult Structural Engineers)

Art History

6

Uhl and Ellem shared responsibility for the tutorial program in this first year of Art History. As well

as planning and teaching the curriculum, they ordered books and had hundreds of slides made,

rounding out the base established by Peter the year before teaching commenced. Tomory, in

collaboration with La Trobe’s Chief Librarian, Dietrich Borchardt, had also established a basic core

of books and journals the previous year.

7

In these early years, Art History was a small department, consisting of three academic members,

Elizabeth Cross as the first slide curator, and an American secretary who brought morning and

afternoon tea to the lecturers’ desks and typed out letters and teaching programs. Everyone

participated in department meetings, including discussion of the department’s direction and new

appointments. Each department was allocated two members on the Board of Studies, the

Professor and one other, and Lucy Ellem was the Department’s first other appointee to the Board.

In 1974, the discipline’s name was shortened - now just Art History - and the staff list grew.

Second year subjects became available and Dr Ian McPhee started with antiquity, teaching Art

History 2A - Greek and Roman Art 5th Century BC - 4th Century AD which investigated most

aspects of architecture, sculpture and painting, combined with the relevant historical and

sociological background. Following from there, Tomory’s subject Art History 2B - The Classical

Tradition in European Art - 5th to 19th Centuries AD provided insight into the classical influence in

architecture, sculpture and paintings. Lucy Ellem, the department’s first Lecturer appointment,

introduced Art History 2C - French Painting in the 19th Century which covered the major

movements from Romanticism to Post-Impressionism, and continued into the twentieth century

with Art History 2D - Major Movements in 20th Century Painting. Around this time, Chris Saines

became the Art History 1 tutor. Chris went on to a distinguished career as the Director of

Auckland Art Gallery before joining the Queensland Art Gallery as Director in 2013.

From the very beginning, Tomory had implemented a structure that provided students with an Art

History education that covered the 5th century BC through to the major movements of the 20th

century AD.

Figure 8 La Trobe Borchardt Library 1972 (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

The Art History department did not only use the collection and guide its display, but was also

responsible for growing it. In 1974, coinciding with the introduction of McPhee’s Greek and

Roman art subjects, the Art History department purchased an Apulian red-figure lekanis with lid;

a proto-Corinthian aryballos, an Athenian black-figure ‘Siana’ cup, and a fragment from an Attic

red-figure amphora with grant money from the Vice Chancellor’s Development fund. In fact, the

Art History department purchased around 96 items for the AD Trendall Teaching Collection and

many were originally displayed in the corridors of Humanities 2.3

Figure 9 Presentation of Greek (Paestum) vase and handle by Prof Dale Trendall to Vice Chancellor John Scott. On left is Professor Peter

Tomory, on right is Dr. Ian McPhee, 1980 (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

1975 saw the introduction of

third year subjects and the

appointment of Dr Richard

Haese as Lecturer and Dr Robert

Gaston as Senior Lecturer.

Gaston’s subject Art History

2F/3F - Renaissance Art in Italy

and Northern Europe covered

selected artists and styles of

painting, sculpture and

architecture, particularly in Italy

from 1400-1600, with attention

paid to documentary sources,

artists’ writings and artistic

theory in the Renaissance.

Tomory’s new offering of Art in

Rome from 1600-1650

complemented Gaston’s.

“The space where the department was housed included artefacts, the slide

collection and the administrators and lecturers and this gave a sense of

belonging to a place where art was important.”

8

Two notable additions to the third year schedule were Art History 3G - Theory and Method of Art

History – a reflective seminar looking into the assumptions, methods and conclusions of art

history, touching on methodology investigating points of contact between art history and other

subjects including psychology, sociology and history and Individual Readings, which began the

process of specialisation, allowing students to focus their learning and study a topic of particular

interest.

Figure 11 An example of the materials within the Trendall Collection, (Photo: Trendall Centre, La Trobe University Website)

Figure 10 Location photo of Ian McPhee (Art History) with Greek artefacts, Trendall Centre,

1983 (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

9

1975 was also the year that Ian McPhee’s subject on Greek and Roman art was divided into

Greek Painting and Greek Sculpture.

While all faculty members taught a variety of themes within their specialties, McPhee was

notable for his ever-expanding course offerings. These gave students the chance to explore a

wide range of topics relating to ancient history, including Aspects of Greek Architecture and

Topography 1000-300BC and Attic Red-Figure Vase Painting – a research interest he shared with

Dr Dale Trendall, whose famed cataloguing of around 20,000 red-figure vases created a record

from which other academics continue to work. Trendall was La Trobe University’s first and only

Resident Fellow and was a mentor and friend to McPhee over many years; the pair worked

together closely on research projects, making use of Trendall’s extensive library and

photographic archive.

Not officially associated with Art History, the A.D. Trendall Research Centre for Ancient

Mediterranean Studies still sits at the top of Menzies College in the Robin Boyd-designed

apartment where Dale Trendall lived, and where he and McPhee would sit and share a sherry as

they watched the sun set over the natural environment of the yet-undeveloped university

campus.

Figure 12 Professor Dale Trendall (Resident Fellow Menzies College) in his apartment, 1975 (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

With all three years of the

discipline plus honours now

established, it is in the 1976

University handbook that we

first see the introduction of

Richard Haese’s subjects.

Covering his specialty of

modern art, these subjects

further balanced out the ancient

and classical focus of the

faculty. Haese took over the

teaching of Art History 2D -

Major Movements in 20th

Century Painting and added Art

History 3D - Expressionism -

Dada and Surrealism, with

special attention paid to the

work of Kirchner, Kandinsky,

Duchamp, Grosz, Ernst and

Miro.

10

At the time that Haese arrived at La Trobe, momentous developments were taking place within

the art historical academic landscape. John Berger’s innovative work “Ways of Seeing”, a fore-

runner of the 1980s New Art History, with its emphasis on political and social historical

influences, had been published in Britain in 1972 - and it was within this context that Haese had

conducted the PhD research that would become his 1981 book, “Rebels and Precursors: The

Revolutionary Years of Australian Art”. Haese's book was launched by Professor Bernard Smith

and won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award for Non-fiction in 1982.4

In 1977 Roman Art and Architecture added another element to Ian McPhee’s suite of courses and

Robert Gaston sharpened his Renaissance offerings with a course on Venetian Painting in the

Renaissance. Lucy Ellem created a course focused on Symbolist Art in France 1800 to 1900,

which, along with her Colour Theory subject, first included in the 1977 handbook5 became a

favourite of students who enjoyed the opportunity to view art through the lens of the “scientific,

symbolic, synesthetic, and decorative traditions.”

La Trobe’s founders had envisioned the university as a series of Colleges with which both staff

and students would be aligned. These colleges would provide not only living quarters but a

calendar of activities and resources that would form the core of the university experience for its

members. For Michael Tolhurst, the Head of Chisholm College, this flexibility provided an

opportunity to combine a love of art with his vision for the college through the creation of an

Artist in Residence programme. Tolhurst had a two-storey octagonal building created at

Chisholm college that included an exhibition and studio space for live-in artists. Works by the

artists were included in the university collections, and exhibitions of their work were popular

events where the La Trobe Art History community could connect with other industry players.

“Those who studied Art History had a passion and a knowledge for the subjects

studied. It was a rare instance in which students were actually enthusiastic

about what was on offer.”

811

Frank Heckes joined the team this year with two subjects on Spanish Art: Art History 2G - Spanish

Art - El Greco to Valdes Leal which covered Spanish painting and sculpture of the 17th Century

and introduced students to the qualities that distinguish Spanish artistic traditions, and Art

History 3M - The Art and Times of Goya, which incorporated political, social and cultural

influences into a study of Goya’s artistic development. Heckes was not only interested in the 17th

century, however, and would add breadth to the Art History programme over many years with his

extensive areas of specialisation, including Baroque Art, Nineteenth Century Art, Northern

Renaissance Art, Spanish Art 1500–2000, Dutch and Flemish Painting 1400–1700, and

Japanese Art of the Edo Period, as well as Spanish Language. As well, Heckes was actively

involved in the Artist in Residence programme run out of Chisholm College.

Frank Heckes was involved with the Artist in Residence programme from its inception in 1981,

actually living in Chisholm College with his wife for a number of years and bringing in the first

artist to take part in the programme, Ignacio Mármol. Heckes had met Mármol at the Spanish

Club in Melbourne and suggested an exhibition. Within weeks Mármol had determined to

participate and create two works for the La Trobe art collection. His ‘White Collection’ was a

significant body of work to come out of his time at La Trobe.

While not officially an Art History programme, the extensive involvement of an Art History faculty

member with the Artist in Residence programme is evidence of the diversity of connections and

networks within the Art History department, the engagement of the academics with

contemporary artistic practice, and an environment that encouraged both.

One significant addition to the roster of subjects in 1977 was the introduction of Art History 3L -

Australian Art. An initiative of Richard Haese, Australian Art broadened the focus of the discipline

for students looking to study subjects a little closer to home. Today, a dedicated course on

Australian Art is taken for granted by most students, but in the 1970s a move away from the

eurocentricity of art history was a progressive choice. La Trobe was second in Victoria only to

Monash University who had launched their dedicated Australian Art subject in 1972.6

Figure 13 Artist in Residence Ignacio Marmol (Photo: La Trobe University Record, Feb/March, 1982)

912

Figure 14 Chisholm College Art Gallery: stained glass ceiling; plaque on the wall near ceiling, 1984 (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

13

14

1978 was notable as the year in which a series of Introductory Language courses were included

in the Art History curriculum. Students could study one of Italian, French, German or Spanish for

a semester and gain the beginnings of a reading knowledge of their chosen language. This

course was taught in conjunction with the Language Centre and was facilitated by its Chair, Mr R.

G. L. Hooke.

In 1981, Joan Barclay Lloyd was appointed and rounded out what would become the core faculty

group until 2007. She had met Robert Gaston while working as a lecturer and guide on an

Australians Studying Abroad tour, and when a new position arose within the La Trobe Art History

department, Gaston invited her to apply. After totally revising 2/3 AE – Ancient Roman Art and

Architecture (formerly taught by Ian McPhee) her first addition was Art History 3T - Early Christian

and Medieval Rome, cq.312-cq.1308, a subject that focused on Early Christian and Medieval art

and architecture in Rome - mosaics, mural painting, icons, sculpture, catacombs, churches,

monasteries, towers, palaces and houses - as well as on the changing map of the city. In 1983

the offerings in this area deepened with the introduction of Art History 2/3 ECT - The Early

Christian Tradition in East and West, ca.312-ca.1320, which looked at early Christian art and

architecture as it developed in the Byzantine Empire and in the medieval West. She later

introduced the courses ARH2/3ARE – Art of the Roman Empire, and ARH2/3RG – Romanesque

and Gothic Art; and ARH2/3ETA – European Travel and Art. She also taught Art History

ARH2/ARH3 RCL: Roman Cultural Landscapes (a subject given in Italy, in Rome, Pompeii,

Herculaneum, Paestum, and Tivoli), for La Trobe University students in conjunction with travel

company, Australians Studying Abroad. Just prior to her arrival at La Trobe, Joan had worked in

Italy as a research assistant for esteemed art historian Richard Krautheimer for his 1980 book

‘Rome: Portrait of a city’.

In the kind inscription nestled amongst the early pages of

the book, Krautheimer describes the pivotal role that

Barclay Lloyd played: she “unearthed materials that had

escaped me and many an idea or formulation in these

pages goes back to hour long discussions with her.”7

Beyond ideas, Barclay Lloyd also helped with the practical

work of typing manuscripts and drawing maps. Her

subject offerings at La Trobe reflected her thorough

grounding in the subject matter and her willingness to go

the extra mile.

Figure 15 Richard Krautheimer, Rome: Portrait of a City, 1980, Princeton University Press (Photo:

AbeBooks.co.uk)

A dedicated group of tutors, many of whom have gone on to prestigious positions within

academia and the arts, supported Art History from the beginning. After Christopher Uhl in 1973,

Christopher Wood tutored in Art History in 1975 and 1976 before leaving to establish his

organisation Australians Studying Abroad in 1977. Lynne Cooke tutored in 1976, and is now the

Senior Curator of Special Projects in modern art at the National Gallery of Art in the United

States. From 1978 to 1981, Jane Kinsman and David Marshall worked as tutors, and were

responsible for designing the tutorial programme that was used in those years. Robert Nelson,

who came on board as a tutor in 1983 went on to complete his PhD in Art History at La Trobe in

1988 and now works as the Associate Director of Student Experience, Monash University and as

art critic for the Age newspaper. Rosemary Stone, another tutor of the mid-1980s, briefly became

a La Trobe Lecturer from 1990 to 1993 in nineteenth century French painting, romanticism and

Australian art. And tutor Clare O’Donoghue supported Lisa Beaven in the later years of the

programme, around 2009. Christopher Heathcote tutored during the time of Nigel Morgan’s

professorship and after completing his PhD under the supervision of Richard Haese, went on to

become a prominent historian, critic and curator. Another notable member of the tutor group

was Sylvia Harrison whose relationship with La Trobe began with tutoring in 1987 and would

continue in a range of capacities – Lecturer and Senior Lecturer – through until the end of 2006.

In 1998, she began teaching AH2/3FAI - Fashion, Art and Identity, a subject that reflected her

specialisations in the history of fashion, contemporary Australian and American art (especially

Pop Art) and art and cultural theory. This was followed by further courses: Photography to Post-

Photography and The History of Haute Couture.

1990 saw a collaboration with visiting scholar D. J. Crowley that resulted in the subject African

and Oceanic Art, which comprised a slide survey and lasted only one year. It was also the year

that Art History student awards were introduced. There were two main awards available to Art

History students from 1990 onwards. The first was the Peter Reynolds Honours Prize in Art

History, which awarded a $50 book voucher annually to the student with the highest first-class

honours (H1) result in Art History. The prize was named after Art History honours student Peter

Reynolds who was tragically killed in a car accident. Nigel Morgan, then Professor of Art History,

went to Peter’s parents and offered to create the prize in his name. Funded out of the Art History

budget, in 1994 the award rose to $100 and stayed at that level until 2009. In 1999, the Alumni

Prize for the best first year student in Art History was instigated and was awarded annually to the

student with the highest academic results in two semester subjects at first year level in Art

History until 2009.

“I just recall fondly many of the tutorials and being in a room full of people who

were passionate about art. The discussion led by the tutors were amazing and

sometimes I didn't want the tutes to end!”

15

Reflecting the expectation that students would learn art history from classical Greece and Rome

onwards, the path through the programme was similarly regimented. Students were invited to

complete an honours year, but high grades were not enough to secure a spot. Tomory would

only invite those students who he believed had the skills and passion to succeed. Once accepted,

honours students experienced the most unusual and innovative element of La Trobe’s Art

History programme – connoisseurship classes.

Figure 16 Peter Tomory and Inge King at the installation of King’s sculpture ‘Dialogue of Circles’, 1976 (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

16

Using his own significant collection of prints and drawings, Peter Tomory took students into his

home for intimate lessons on provenance, examination of style and technique, artist identification

and contextual analysis.

Tasked with writing a catalogue entry on an artwork of Tomory’s choosing, students would have

to identify the artist and trace the provenance. Writing up this type of professional piece not only

taught students about the artwork itself, but about the work of curators and museum workers.

Such practical subject matter, influenced by Tomory’s own curatorial background, was not

available in other Australian universities and exemplifies the work-ready approach that continues

at La Trobe to this day. Students remember these classes with great fondness.

“Prof. Dale Trendall once explained to me in considerable detail how to

successfully pass off fake Greek antiquities (ceramics) as the real thing.

Marvellous to know. Better than a superannuation plan. When I am old and

stony broke, auction houses will start receiving the most marvellous Graeco-

Roman pots and plates. Just you see.”

After completing their honours year, Tomory

required students to obtain a Masters by Research

before taking on PhD candidature. It was his belief

that the completion of a masters thesis would

provide a solid and necessary foundation for later

research.

Figure 17 Janet Borchardt painting portrait of Dr David Myers (Vice Chancellor), 1976

(Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

Connoisseurship

17

Along with the writing of honours theses, the Art History’s honours programme also included Art

History 4T: The Language of Images: Classical Art and the Classical Tradition, a team-taught

subject devised and given by the staff of Art History for Honours students.

If the Art History academic programme at La Trobe was different to that of other Australian

universities, then the methods of teaching followed suit. Coming from a curatorial background

and having worked in galleries and museums, Peter Tomory’s intention for Art History was

always that it would be, first and foremost, practical. An object-first approach to teaching saw

students spend significant amounts of time walking through the galleries of the National Gallery

of Victoria (NGV) and contemporary exhibitions throughout the city. When students started

Tomory’s Art History 1A, they were required to complete two assignments. The first was to write

a bibliography. The second was to go to the NGV, choose a painting or object and deconstruct it.

In this way, students immediately engaged with the processes of academic research and art

historical methodology in ways that would stay with them throughout their careers.

Although not intended for teaching, the La Trobe university art collection formed part of the

holistic arts environment that characterised Bundoora in the early days and was used by

lecturers and tutors to aid in bringing the arts alive for their students. Lorraine Wallis recalls

having the Fred Williams painting, Scrub, Lyterfield (1967) hanging in the Administrative Office,

while down the hall Domenica Chincarini enjoyed the Charles Blackman painting that hung on the

Slide Library wall. Belinda Nemec includes in her 2016-2017 La Trobe Art Institute Art Collection

Significance Assessment report the recollections of several past La Trobe Art History lecturers

and tutors who utilised the collection for teaching. Christopher Heathcote, an Art History

alumnus and well-known art historian and critic, recalled Rhonda Noble, former LUMA director

and curator, sending over paintings each week for his classes, so that his students could

experience the real thing. Dr Alana O’Brien, a former LUMA curator and Art History lecturer recalls

that requests were often made by the Art History lecturers to have LUMA staff give floor talks,

lectures or sculpture garden tours. The collection, with its focus on Australian modern and

contemporary art, didn’t represent all areas of academic specialisation, but lecturers still found

ways to incorporate it into teaching broad theory and practical museology skills. Lucy Ellem

recalls bringing works from the collection into her classroom to teach about colour in her Colour

in Theory and Practice course. Joan Barclay Lloyd would ask students to feature artworks from

the collection in their research projects. In the later years of the programme, Caroline Jordan

would take students to LUMA to hear from the director and curators about the collection,

exhibition development and careers in curatorship.8

“[Studying Art History at La Trobe] influenced how I saw and taught history. It

gave me a language to use and a context in which I could experience culture

during travel”

“I thought [Robert Gaston’s] usual first assignment in a given course – a 1000-

word visual analysis of a painting (usually, because of the nature of the

courses he taught) – was a brilliant exercise. It taught you to look, and

develop your own critical eye.”

18

Richard Haese is still appreciated by students who learned by doing - going out into

contemporary art galleries and seeing new and exciting work, or learning from artists like Mike

Brown who were invited to give guest lectures. And postgraduate students recall Joan Barclay

Lloyd fondly for her generosity and enthusiasm in opening up a world of overseas travel and

study.

Figure 18 Richard Haese (Photo: ABC Books and Arts website)

Each academic in the Art History faculty had different strengths, and students remember them

all fondly. Frank Heckes’ great strength was visual analysis of an object, a skill which he passed

on to his students. Ian McPhee’s experience with archaeological digs and personal knowledge of

his subject matter brought his classes to life and inspired in his students a great deal of respect.

Robert Gaston’s lectures were always full, and characterised by his rigorous and intellectually

challenging approach. Lucy Ellem’s great strength was her ability to teach the conceptual

elements of art, capturing the imaginations of students in new ways.

“I loved my tutorials with Joan Barclay-Lloyd. She recognised that I had a

particular enthusiasm for Roman Art and she encouraged opportunities for me

to share that with fellow students.”

19

Life at La Trobe wasn’t all serious academic work though. For many Art History students, the best

part of their experience was the social aspect of university life and the community that grew

amongst students and staff.

Beyond the classroom, department life was filled with social events in which everyone was

included, from first year students to postgraduates and staff. Richard Haese’s parties at his

home in Warrandyte - large barbecues on Saturday afternoons - could attract up to 100 guests,

including students, friends of students and staff members, all socialising together. Lunchtime

parties were hosted for undergraduates and senior staff members would hold end of year events

in their homes for the postgraduate students. Before graduation ceremonies, students would

gather with their families and staff members for a celebratory drink. One year there was eager

talk of the graduands heading up to Union Hall together along the Trendall Walk in a show of

camaraderie. However, the requirement that they arrive an hour before the ceremony to dress in

their regalia and find their place in line ultimately made it an impractical, if tellingly enthusiastic,

suggestion.

“One who stands out was Frank Heckes whose knowledge ‘needle’ was stuck

permanently on paintings of ‘The Immaculate Conception’, as every single

lecture of his was on this, his pet subject. Prior to one of his lectures, when we

knew exactly what the subject matter would be, all the girls dressed up in long

gowns and veils, and stood in appropriate ‘virginal’ poses either side of the door

as he entered. We believe Mr. Heckes got the message as after this we noticed

that he had extended his lecture repertoire somewhat.”

Community

Alumna Diana English remembers,

Figure 19 Justice Smithers presiding over a graduation, 1973, (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

20

This was the golden age of academia. Students were actively engaged in university life, and

academics were supported in their work in ways that today seem unfathomable. While research

output has been a fundamental requirement of academics since the 1970s, its role and value

has changed immensely. Living as we do in a time when research productivity determines

funding and administration has surpassed most other academic duties, we can be forgiven for

looking wistfully back at the support and opportunity provided by the university to academics in

pursuit of their research interests. In the 1970s sabbatical leave could be taken for 6 months

every 3 years, or for a whole year every 6 years. Temporarily free from teaching obligations,

academics were paid a full wage and supported financially for research-related travel.

“One thing that sticks in my memory is the wonderful end-of-year party that

Professor Tomory gave all his students at his cottage in Napier Street, Fitzroy

where we walked in to a table laden with a full leg of ham, seafood, salads,

cheeses, desserts and a bar laden with drinks for us to enjoy. He didn’t bore us

with speeches but just mingled casually amongst the students enjoying the

evening – I’m sure that event will remain in everyone’s memory.”

Figure 20 Leonard French, Four Seasons, 1978, glass mosaic (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

21

One of those PhD candidates was Jenny Wilkinson. Jenny had been a student of Richard Haese

and was completing her PhD on the work of Australian artist Fred Williams. One night in 1987,

returning home from an evening with the Williams family, she was the victim of a road accident

and sadly passed away. The Williams family wanted to commemorate Jenny’s love of Art

History, and donated the Fred Williams painting, Scrub, Lysterfield (1967) to the La Trobe Art

Collection on her behalf.

Figure 21 Fred (Frederick Ronald) Williams, Scrub, Lysterfield, [LTU0594/87],1967, oil on canvas 86.2 x 96.5 cm,

Gift of the Williams Family in Memory of Jenny Wilkinson 1987,La Trobe University Art Collection

“Well, there was the appearance of the comedian John Clarke at a departmental

get together in a restaurant. It was spectacular. John, sat next to Dr Joan

Barclay-Lloyd, and just had everyone in stitches. It was like a private show at a

comedy festival.”9

Students benefited from this programme of university-supported research as well, of course. The

work that academics were doing within their discipline would feed into their teaching, and

students learned about new ideas and concepts as they were being discovered. This passion for

research flowed on to the students, and Art History was never short of PhD candidates, with a

comparatively high and stable number of postgraduate researchers.10

22

Art History settled comfortably into the Humanities 2 building where it shared the fourth floor with

the English department, and where it would stay until 2008.

The space had been purposefully designed, with display cabinets filled with artefacts and

artworks lining the hallways. It was also home to Art History’s headquarters - the administrative

office and slide library, managed by Lorraine Wallis and Domenica Chincarini respectively.

Lorraine had majored in Art History at La Trobe when she completed her Bachelor of Arts in

1981. A year later, she applied for a position with the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities where

she worked until 1993, when structural changes within the university necessitated a change.

A range of administrative roles within the university were advertised and Lorraine applied for

four, citing her preference for a place within Art History.

By far the most qualified candidate, not least

because of her experience studying within the

department, the recruitment panel

unanimously voted to invite Lorraine to join the

team. From that moment, Lorraine became an

invaluable member of the faculty - she knew

the peculiarities of the curriculum and

resources, and was a go-between and first

port of call for staff and students alike.

Domenica was also a student of La Trobe

from 1980 to 1986, studying a double major of

Music and Art History, and completing an

honours year. Later, she complemented her

studies with a Graduate Diploma in

Librarianship. After a year of travelling, she

returned to Australia and to La Trobe where

she became the Visual Resources Librarian

from 1990 through to 2009.

Figure 22 Simpson Place looking towards the Humanities 2 building, (Photo: La Trobe University

Media Library )

Buildings

23

Figure 23 Map of La Trobe Bundoora Campus, La Trobe Undergraduate Handbook 1975

24

For students today, it is hard to imagine life before PowerPoint presentations and easily sharable

digital images, but those technologies were not always available. Instead, Art History’s slide

library was a key resource for all staff and students who relied heavily on Domenica’s expertise

and management for the images that punctuated their essays and adorned their presentations.

The slide library initially contained the Tomory Archive of over 100,000 slides and 5000 black and

white photographs, and grew with the addition of new subjects. Slides were arranged in a series

of 7-drawer filing cabinets located in the Visual Resources Library. Lecturers and tutors would

set aside boxes of relevant slides in the Slide Library, or put them in light boxes in the Slide

Viewing Room for students to access prior to class presentations. Students were also able to

make an appointment with Domenica to select or view images.

Figure 24 Peter Tomory with New Zealand artist Colin McMahon at Auckland City Art Gallery, (Photo: Auckland City Art Gallery via Te

Ara website)

After 16 years at La Trobe, the man responsible for initiating what was one of Australia’s most

successful Art History departments, Peter Tomory, retired in 1987 at the age of 65.

The Slide Library

“We were a small unit and we lived in the slide library.”

“The incredible Domenica Chincarini…was always available and helpful in

getting slides for us.”

His career had included not only his

work as a teacher, but as a Fellow of

the Australian Academy of

Humanities from 1974 and a

member of its council from 1984

until 1986, as an adviser to the

National Gallery of Victoria, and one

of the founders of the Art

Association of Australia. Tomory

remained in Melbourne for a few

years, before moving to England to

live with his two sons. While he never

taught again, he did continue to

research and publish until 2004. He

died in 2008 at the age of 86.11

25

With the Professorship vacant for three years from 1988 and 1990, the department was at risk of

lacking the representation within the University that a Professor brings.

However, the characteristic commitment of the faculty mitigated this risk and administrative

duties fell to various academics who took on responsibility for attending meetings, sitting on

panels, and determining the direction of the discipline. Joan Barclay Lloyd and Richard Haese

filled the role of Chairperson for two years and 12 months respectively, Barclay Lloyd in 1988 and

1989 and Haese in 1990. Amongst their adopted duties was the process of advertising for, and

then interviewing potential candidates for the role of Professor. A number were considered and a

candidate hired early on, but he never arrived. This ultimately proved a good thing for Art History

as it led to the employment of Nigel Morgan as Professor in 1991. Already a distinguished

academic in the field of thirteenth to fifteenth century medieval and gothic art and architecture,

Morgan was active in a range of roles relating to the Art History discipline. He maintained

connections with other organisations during his time at La Trobe as a Fellow of the Australian

Academy of the Humanities in 1994 and as a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford in 1996.

Figure 25 Presentation to the University by Friends of La Trobe, of the painting ‘A possible World’ by Angela Brennan. To left of painting are Joseph Brown and Coral De Boo, and on right Professor Nigel Morgan (Art History) and Vice Principal David Neilson [date unknown], (Photo:

La Trobe University Media Library)

A New Professor

26

The 1990s saw a shift in the culture of universities in Australia, and it was not long after the

appointment of the new Professor that challenges arose.

While these changes did not affect the academic experience for students, they were felt in other

ways. In 1994, on the recommendation of the university’s Strategic Planning Committee, La Trobe

began the transition from ten schools to four faculties. This change led to the new title School of

Art History within the Faculty of Humanities. Just three years later, in 1997, another change took

place and Art History became a subject offering under the School of Arts and Media within the

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Changing again in 1999, Art History became the

Department of Art History, its title only until 2001 when Art History took on the name that it

retained until its end: the subject of Art History within the School of Historical and European

Studies under the banner of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.12

These name and title changes reflect the confusion within the university sector at the time,

sitting in sharp contrast with Morgan’s efficient implementation of a more active programme of

administration and promotion, exemplified by the shift from a relaxed approach to readings to a

more precise method. Before Morgan’s arrival, students were given access to their core subject

texts via either the library’s Reserve section, or the reading room (later to become Joan Barclay

Lloyd’s office). At the beginning of the semester students would gather and readings would be

distributed. But if you weren’t there as the readings hit the table, you were out of luck. Some

students and lecturers remember Morgan streamlining this process, and making readings more

easily available.13 He also encouraged his faculty members to reach out to others, which resulted

in collaborations between Ian McPhee in Art History and the Archaeology department, as well as

with Anne Gardner’s Religious Studies programme, and the History department. Continuing this

initiative, Frank Heckes and Lucy Ellem co-developed their subject ARH2/3EW - East Meets West:

The Arts of Japan and Cross-Cultural Exchange in 1999, which combined their knowledge of

Japanese art history and 20th century western culture.

The feeling within the department was that they were actively fighting for their survival in a

rapidly changing political environment, and that Morgan’s more structured approach could not

have come at a better time. However, all the efforts of the staff and students couldn’t hold off

forever the decline that was being felt in humanities departments across the country.

“I found that La Trobe University offered life-changing opportunities to many

people who fell outside the more restrictive selection procedures of other

universities - this was truly remarkable. It was an honour to have known the staff

and to learn from the ways that they carried out their highly professional

responsibilities. I came to respect them all the more.”

27

While Nigel Morgan’s approach to his professorial role was organised and effective, his

frustration at the ever-decreasing opportunity to engage in research and teaching in favour of

administration was clear to others within the faculty. In 1997 Nigel Morgan left La Trobe for a

position as Professor of Medieval Art History at the University of Oslo, leaving the department

again without an official representative.

Morgan’s impact on his colleagues throughout his career was significant, as evidenced by the

collection of essays written as a tribute to his work. Tributes to Nigel J. Morgan, published by

Brepols Publishers and edited by J. Luxford and M. Michael in 2010 is, according to the

publisher’s website, “in honour of Nigel Morgan, whose meticulous scholarship and inspiring

teaching have contributed so richly to the study of medieval art.”

After Morgan left La Trobe, Joan Barclay Lloyd, Robert Gaston and Ian McPhee took turns in

being head of the department (Joan for the longest period). These were difficult times, as the

faculty of Humanities refused to renew the professorship and was committed to reducing the

number of academic staff in the department. After Professor Morgan, Art History suffered the

first loss of tutors Sue Russell and Hilary Maddocks.

Figure 26 Herman Hohaus, Sofia, 1970, Bronze (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

28

Staff workloads became heavier. The Art History academics were expected to teach at the

Bundoora campus and also at Wodonga and Mildura. Taking advantage of the new technologies,

students were provided with online teaching materials and recorded lectures. At each regional

campus there was a local tutor, and the Bundoora staff travelled once a semester to meet with

regional students doing first year Art History.14

The faculty continued working to keep the discipline alive throughout the early 2000s and the

beginning of this season of significant change for Art History at La Trobe.

Shifting Tides

It is not unusual for Academics to move between universities throughout their careers in pursuit of

that sought-after title: Professor.

Therefore, maintaining the core group of La Trobe Art History academics from 1973 to 2003 was

a unique and significant achievement, and a testament not only to a positive working

environment, but also to the teaching-focus of the staff. It is true for at least some that a love of

teaching and research at La Trobe outweighed the glories of the administration-heavy role of

Professor anywhere else. For many, this emphasis on students and teaching was a large part of

what made Art History at La Trobe so special.

But the landscape of academia had changed since those golden days of faculty barbeques and

research travel allowances. Universities were becoming more challenging environments for

students and staff alike, with ever-increasing demands on both, and less and less funding

available to support the core business of academia. Where before the discipline had enjoyed the

contributions of a large group of enthusiastic and knowledgeable tutors, the early 2000s saw that

group diminish, until there were none left. Funding allowed for the occasional session with an

external tutor, however even then the budget was tight. There was only one more place from

which cuts could come. At the end of 2003, the first of the founding group of academics were to

leave, with Lucy Ellem and Frank Heckes taking redundancy packages and leaving La Trobe. It

was difficult to separate the discipline of Art History from the people who brought it to life, and it

was a challenging time for everyone who loved art history at La Trobe.

Figure 27 Dr Frank Heckes with Ignacio Marmol, La Trobe University Bulletin, June 1981

29

Within the context of these changes though, research persisted and teaching went on. Students

continued to enjoy a broad suite of subjects, and La Trobe Art History was influencing work

around the world. A Gazette from 2003 provides a snapshot of the time. Two PhD theses had

recently been completed; one from Graeme Birch on the iconographic development of Florentine

altarpieces in c. 1350 to c. 1415 and another from Eve Flame on burial practices in Greek Sicily

during the Classical period. As well, PhD candidate Tracy Spinks (now Managing Art Curator at

Epworth Healthcare) was in Positano, where she spent a couple of weeks on the Amalfi coast

researching Australian born artist Vali Myers. Meanwhile, La Trobe academic Dr Alana O’Brien

was in Florence archiving Medici letters as a Research Fellow for the Medici Archive Project. Dr

Susan Russell, previously a tutor and Assistant Lecturer, was beginning a secondment from her

position as Postdoctoral Fellow, taking on the role of Assistant Director of the British School at

Rome.15 And Sylvia Harrison was promoted from Assistant Lecturer to Lecturer, and then Senior

Lecturer in 2004. Through all the challenges, the department continued its tradition of

productivity and engagement.

Figure 28 Australian artist Vali Myers, the subject of alumna Tracey Spink’s PhD researchEva Collins, Vali Myers, 2001, type C photograph, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

“Sylvia [Harrison] teaching us about Cindy Sherman was a standout memory”

30

Going Digital

This was also a time of innovation in Art History at La Trobe and around the world.

Figure 29 Computers are now an essential part of the student experience at La Trobe (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

31

Two online subjects – ARH2/3AOB - Art of Byzantium and ARH2/3MEU - Medieval Europe c600 -

c1200 – were devised by Barclay Lloyd between 2002 and 2005 and taught by her until 2006.

These were developed in conjunction with the Visual Resources Librarian and the Online

Production Team, and included videos of lectures by her, and tutorials and seminars by Dr Ursula

Betka, a medieval art historian. Medieval Europe c600 – c1200 took students on a virtual journey

along five medieval pilgrim routes to Compostela. Along the way, students would encounter

medieval guides including a knight, a monk, a merchant’s wife, a queen, a troubadour and a

bishop, all of whom helped them in their quest for knowledge. Students would have their ‘pilgrim

passport’ stamped after completing each of six quizzes. Art of Byzantium required students to

collaborate with their lecturer in developing an exhibition on Byzantine art. Using La Trobe Virtual

Gallery in Flash, the exhibition spaces comprised 12 rooms radiating from a central domed

chamber. Each week students would enter a new room where they would receive a fact sheet

and complete a quiz that unlocked an icon on a virtual plinth. Assignments for this subject were

two essays in the form of catalogue entries. For these modern additions to the discipline, Joan

Barclay-Lloyd was awarded the John Edwards Prize and the inaugural Vice Chancellor’s Prize for

Teaching and Learning.

Consistently ahead of the digital curve, under Nigel Morgan the Art History department had

secured a grant from the Faculty to set up a computer lab for Art History teaching. Later, using

the MDID cataloguing system developed by James Madison University in Virginia (USA), La

Trobe’s Art History Department led Australian universities in the move towards digitisation and

online learning. As Visual Resources Librarian, Domenica Chincarini was responsible for

managing an online database of around 10,000 images, accessible by staff and students. In

2006 Domenica won an international travel award of US$1000 to attend the Visual Resources

Association Conference in Baltimore, where she delivered a paper on the implementation

process of the MDID2 software at La Trobe University. Later, she consulted on the

implementation of the MDID2 software for Sydney University.17

This was not Joan’s first time integrating art and technology. Joan had introduced AH1ATM - Art,

technology and multimedia to Art History’s roster of subjects as early as 1998.16

End of an Era

The next losses for the department came at the end of 2006, with Robert Gaston, Joan Barclay

Lloyd, Sylvia Harrison and Richard Haese leaving La Trobe as Art History faculty members for the

final time.18

In 2007 Ian McPhee followed, retiring at the age of 60 after campaigning the University to replace

his position with an appointment structured as 50% Director of the Trendall Centre paid for by

Trendall funds and 50% Teacher within the humanities paid for by the University. With the aim of

reducing costs and preserving the teaching of Greek art and archaeology, McPhee was ultimately

successful and in 2012 Gillian Shepherd took up the role with great success.

Along with founding members Frank Heckes and Lucy Ellem, this core group of academics had

worked hard for 34 years to build what was arguably the most comprehensive and effective Art

History faculty in Australia.

“Although I had fantastic teachers in other disciplines, the art history academic

staff and students were among the most dedicated and passionate that I

encountered, and those subjects were the only time I felt like I was part of

community.”

In the years following, now as Honorary Associates, they each have continued to work and

produce in their fields. Richard Haese went on to write his book “Permanent Revolution: Mike

Brown and the Australian Avant-Garde 1953-1997” which was published in 2012; Robert Gaston

continued his research work and is currently a Principal Fellow in Art History at the University of

Melbourne; Ian McPhee continued in his role until 2012 as the Director of the Trendall Centre and

edited the Trendall Centre’s first publication, “Myth, Drama and Style in Southern Italian Vase

Painting: Selected Papers by A. D. Trendall” in 2016; Lucy Ellem wrote her book “In Praise of

Landscape: The Art of John Borrack” which was published in 2012; Frank Heckes took on a role

as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis and continues to publish his

research; Joan Barclay Lloyd published her book “SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio at Tre Fontane Near

Rome: History and Architecture of a Medieval Cistercian Abbey” and has continued to publish

prolifically from her base in Rome; and Sylvia Harrison is currently working as an historian based

in Melbourne, and is still visible in the fashion photography and pop theory space.

“It was an intensely enjoyable part of my education and I reflect on its

significance on almost a daily basis. I appreciate the curiosity and the knowledge

that it instilled in me and I'm deeply appreciative for all that the Art History

department gave me.”

32

Figure 35 Associate Professor Robert Gaston, University of Melbourne, presents

his lecture at The Power of Luxury Symposium, 2013 (Photo: University of

Melbourne)

Figure 36 Dr Frank Heckes contemplates in the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias the portrait of Carlos IV painted by Goya who is guarded in the

pinacoteca. (Photo: Irma Collín, 2013 http://www.lne.es/)

Figure 31 Dr Ian McPhee, former Director, Trendall Research Centre , La Trobe University (Photo: La

Trobe University)Figure 30 Dr Joan Barclay Lloyd and the Holy See Secretariat of State’s Fr Anthony Ekpo, Australian Embassy to the Holy

See, 2016 (Photo: Australian Embassy, Holy See)

Figure 32 Sylvia Harrison, Pop Art and the Origins of Post-

Modernism, Cambridge University Press, 2009

Figure 33 Richard Haese, Permanent Revolution: Mike Brown and the

Australian Avant Garde 1953-1997, The Miegunyah Press, 2012

Figure 34 Lucy Ellem, In Praise of Landscape: The Art of John

Borrack, Macmillan Art Publishing, 2013

33

A new life for Art History

2007 may have marked the end of an era for Art History at La Trobe, but it was certainly not the

end of the programme.

In 2007, La Trobe’s Bundoora campus was lucky to bring Dr Lisa Beaven on board as a full time

lecturer for 12 months. Beaven, a well-renowned and well-travelled academic and expert in

patronage and art collecting in seventeenth century Rome, took on the role of teacher,

administrator and advocate of the Art History programme. Having taught at the Bendigo Art

School since 2003 her transfer to Bundoora was the initiative of History’s Diane Kirkby. It wasn’t

an easy time to arrive. After so many redundancies by the end of 2006, morale amongst the

students was low and the feeling was that Art History at La Trobe might not survive. The

university exacerbated this sense of unease with actions such as the removal of teaching rooms

without notice. Beaven took on responsibility for every aspect of Art History, from the running of

first year subjects to the facilitation and teaching of higher-level courses, coordination of

postgraduate and honours students and the administration of the discipline. The lack of any

official handover made her task all the more difficult.

Figure 37 Dr Lisa Beaven (Photo: Provided by Lisa Beaven)

“During the period of Lisa Beaven's tenure many academics and curators were

invited to the history department staff seminars (as art history was then a part of

history) and this gave us both access to a wide array of information and

expertise and also a sense of belonging to a broad art history community.”

34

Those first 12 months were about keeping Art History afloat. Of course, past faculty members

helped where they could. Joan Barclay Lloyd and Robert Gaston actively involved themselves in

the programme and continuing to supervise their students. Richard Haese also participated by

giving lectures, and Ian McPhee was always available to give advice.

Figure 38 Dr Joan Barclay Lloyd in front of San Sebastian Church,

Manila (Photo: Ateneo de Manila University Website)

35

The two online subjects, ARH2/3AOB - Art of Byzantium and ARH2/3MEU - Medieval Europe c600

- c1200, devised by Barclay Lloyd between 2002 and 2005 and taught by her until 2006 continued

to be taught in 2007 by Ursula Betke.

Offering extra support was tutor Clare O’Donoghue, who worked closely with Beaven, teaching

first year Art History for a number of years. Her enthusiasm and genuine affection for her

students underwrote the popularity of the courses, which combined with Beaven’s engaging

lectures, consistently achieved very high teaching scores.

In 2008, the university reduced Lisa Beaven’s position from full time to part time.

Figure 39 Dr Caroline Jordan (Photo: La Trobe University)

In 2009 Dr Caroline Jordan joined Art History, complementing

Beaven’s European focus with her expertise in Australian Colonial

art. Between themselves and History Professor Diane Kirkby, they

continued the work Beaven had initiated to increase student

numbers and improve Art History’s reach. First year Art History

was moved to Mondays and staff fought to secure good lecture

theatres for their classes. Advertising was increased and Beaven

gave public lectures in the hope of making new connections. 2009

saw the introduction of ARH2/3AWA Andy Warhol’s America: Pop

art, politics and popular culture, which covered the period of 1940 to

the 1980s and examined visual art and pop culture in the context of

the cold war, consumerism, civil rights and celebrity.

“I feel a great debt of gratitude is owed to the History Department, especially

under Richard Broome and Diane Kirkby, [who] made us feel welcome and

worked to encourage us to contribute to the broader discipline of history. They

understood the importance of studying and understanding the depths of

information that visual art can contribute to all aspects of history - culture,

economics, society etc. I believe that this had an effect on the History

Department at La Trobe, expanding the focus of investigations to include visual

art and thereby enriching history.”

ARH2MAM – Making America: From Pocahontas to jazz and prohibition was another subject on

offer in the context of the history programme that covered art history, exploring the theme of

‘Americanness’ through the lens of America’s “distinctive artistic vision”.20 Intensive subjects were

added to the catalogue, including a summer subject at the NGV, and sessional lecturer Ursula

Betka continued to teach online subjects.

The hard work was paying off. Student numbers doubled, the budget was on track and Art

History was coming back to life. Unfortunately, though, that was not enough to ensure its

survival.

36

In 2009, Art History ceased to exist as a distinct discipline, and was enveloped by History. At a

time when humanities departments across the country were suffering from the uncertainty of a

changing academic and political landscape, the decision to integrate the disciplines was a way to

keep Art History going. So, what little there was left of Art History moved from its home in

Humanities 2 to the History corridor in the David Myers Building East.

The welcome and support given by history academics was gratefully received. Associate

Professor of History, Dr Adrian Jones worked extensively to support Art History within the

department, and along with Diane Kirkby and the Art History staff, helped to develop a curriculum

that would encourage history students to engage with art history, as well as providing an outlet

for those students who wished to pursue an art history education.

With such a diminished staff, the help and support of past faculty members and distinguished

alumni was crucial. A culture of favours had developed, due to insufficient funds for guest

lecturers or student excursions to galleries and museums, and having Richard Haese and Dr

David Marshall volunteer their time and expertise as lecturers was invaluable.

Figure 40 David Myers Building, Bundoora Campus, (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

37

In 2011 Caroline Jordan was appointed to the position of Honours Coordinator in the History

Department and four art history students were among this cohort. In 2012, there were two Art

History students in the honours programme and Lisa Beaven continued to supervise four new

PhD candidates, all of whom had come up through honours with her, as well as becoming

associate supervisor for one of Joan Barclay Lloyd’s PhD candidates.19 Given the classification of

Jordan’s position as teaching only, Beaven bore responsibility for postgraduate researchers, and

where she shared the load with Barclay Lloyd, they enjoyed working together immensely. While

student numbers and engagement had never been a problem for Art History,21 the university

succumbed to institutional and funding pressures, and on June 20, 2012, staff received a

document announcing an OCIS process that would ultimately determine 2012 as the final year of

Art History at La Trobe.22 The response from the community was swift and overwhelmingly

supportive of La Trobe’s Art History programme, with academics, museum and gallery workers,

and students all lending their voices to the call for the university to reconsider their proposal and

keep the discipline alive. Central to many arguments in favour of the department was the

recognition that the loss of La Trobe’s art history programme would be felt across Australia,

leaving Melbourne University’s more traditional programme as the only art history department in

Victoria to offer the discipline as a major for undergraduate arts students.23 Even Barry

Humphries got involved, writing to the Dean of the University, Tim Murray, in support of Art

History.

Unfortunately, the campaign to keep Art History alive at La Trobe, although passionate and

thorough, was ultimately unsuccessful. La Trobe committed to teaching out Art History for all

those enrolled in the discipline as a major, but for new students 2012 marked the final year that

Art History would be available as a first year subject offering, and from 2013, it would be phased

out. Art History’s 1.5 academic positions and two sessional positions were lost. Caroline Jordan

left La Trobe and continued working in academia, including a temporary post as the Ailsa Mellon

Bruce Visiting Fellow in 2014 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Lisa Beaven,

having fought to reinstate her position at La Trobe, continued teaching through 2013 and took on

the remaining Art History PhD students, some of whom she continues to support into 2017. In

2014, Beaven took a leave of absence to teach Art History at the University of Sydney and in

2015, returned to Melbourne to work on an ARC supported research project at the Australian

Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions. Beaven is also a

Postdoctoral Research Fellow within Charles Zika’s ‘Change’ Program.24

“I am still grateful to Diane Kirkby for doing an exceptional job at fighting for the

discipline and its students. She and the other art history staff were exemplary in

ensuring that we received the same high quality teaching and educational

opportunities as previous Art History students, during the difficult teach-out

period.”

38

Art History By Another Name

While Art History was officially lost from the university’s offerings, in different ways it has been

maintained as part of the La Trobe experience since 2012. Subjects relating to art history

continued to form part of the history curriculum until 2015.

Figure 41 Charles Robb, Landmark, 2004, Bronze (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

In 2013, students could still study ARH2ETA - European Travel and Art, ARH3RAI - Renaissance

Art (summer) and ARH2/3APK Paris and New York: Art of the avant garde under Lisa Beaven, and

the online subject ARH2/3MEU - Medieval Europe coordinated by Diane Kirkby. By 2014, available

subjects were Renaissance Art and ARH2/3ARB – Art of Byzantium. In 2015, the final year that art

history content was available through history, students could take on HIS2/3AWA – Andy

Warhol’s America and Art of Byzantium only as a third year subject. By 2016, all Art History

subjects were unavailable.

Caroline Jordan has also returned to La Trobe as a Research Associate (2015-18) on the ARC-

funded Linkage Project Fostering Women Leaders through Educational Exchange, 1930-1980. As

well, Lisa Beaven collaborated with Dr Gillian Shepherd, now Director of the Trendall Centre, to

create public programmes like their NGV forum, “Forum: How to look good naked- From

Antiquity to the Renaissance” in 2013.

39

La Trobe may have discontinued the discipline of Art History but the alumni are as passionate as

ever, engaging with the collection and the university at every opportunity. Established in 2006, the

Art History Alumni Chapter has become the university’s most active, with 74 financial members in

2016.

Art History Alumni Chapter

Figure 42 Juan Ford, From grave to cradle, 2008, oil on linen, Purchased with assistance from the Art History Chapter, La

Trobe University Alumni. (Photo: La Trobe University)

Professor Nigel Morgan presented

the first Rae Alexander Lecture at

the John Scott Meeting House in

1998, speaking on 'Trondheim

Cathedral and the Cult of St. Olaf'.

Ever since, the lecture series has

been a favourite, with guest

speakers including curators,

conservators, international and local

academics, and past students and

staff of La Trobe’s Art History

programme. Since 2004, when

Elizabeth Cross presented her

lecture 'Edvard Munch: Known and

Unknown', the primary location for

the event has been the Clemenger

Auditorium at the NGV International,

and in 2017 Richard Haese

celebrated the 20th anniversary of

the lecture series with his revisiting

of the 1968 exhibition ‘The Field’.

Led by Chairperson Sandra Nicholson, Secretary Robyn Walton and Treasurer Thalia Kingston,25

the alumni chapter have worked to build a community and to keep art history alive at La Trobe. A

yearly calendar of events provides members with numerous opportunities to engage with the

arts, the most popular of these being the Rae Alexander Lecture.

40

Before there are alumni there must first be students, and the Alumni Chapter have actively

supported their successors over many years. The Alumni prize for best first year art history

student, established in 1999, was followed by the institution of a third year prize of $500, and an

honours prize of $250, all of which were active for a decade, ceasing only with the

discontinuation of Art History. This did not mean the end of the Chapter’s student support,

however. La Trobe’s visual arts students are now eligible for the Alumni-initiated La Trobe

University NGV Summer School Prize of $500, which is awarded annually to an active participant

of the programme who shows a willingness to engage with a sense of enquiry about

contemporary art. As well, the Acquisitive Prize of $1,000 – awarded in 2016 to Bendigo Creative

Arts student Mici Boxell – continues a tradition as old as the university itself: the cultivation of

connections between the student body and the university’s art collection.

Figure 43 Mici Boxell in front of her print of her daughter at La Trobe University's graduate exhibition (Photo: ABC News Website)

“The contact with high quality minds was inspiring; the opportunities and

"unstuffy" atmosphere was refreshing.”

41

Where are they now?

Many past students attribute the success of La Trobe’s Art History alumni to the practical nature of Peter Tomory’s teaching style, and the object-first approach that he advocated. Being a celebrated curator and collector himself, Tomory was keen for students to engage fearlessly with art.

It is no surprise, then, that many students carried that love of the object into careers in the field of

curatorship and museology. In our own city of Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria boasts

two high-profile La Trobe Art History graduates – Curator of International Art, Dr Laurie Benson

and Director, Tony Ellwood. Dr Penny Peckham has worked as a curator as has Dr Alana O’Brien.

Charles Nodrum became an art dealer and contributed significantly to the La Trobe University art

collection through loans and donations, as well as performing an advisory role. As well, Dr Jane

Kinsman became Head of International Art at the National Gallery of Australia, and Maria Zagala

works as Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs at the Art Gallery of South

Australia

“The Department's staff was very responsive to students, especially during

individual sessions and Post-Grad supervisions - they were remarkable when

compared with other universities.”

Further afield, alumnus Dr

Mark McDonald was the first

Australian to be accepted as a

curatorial intern at the J. Paul

Getty Museum before taking

on the position of Senior

Curator in the Department of

Prints and Drawings at The

British Museum, London. He is

currently working at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art

as Curator responsible for

Italian, Spanish, Mexican, and

early French prints and

illustrated books. Figure 44 Murri Totems artist Reko Rennie (on left) with Dr Vincent Alessi,

Artistic Director of the La Trobe University Museum of Art (LUMA), (Photo: La Trobe University)

42

Some students were more inclined toward a predominantly academic career, and followed the

example of their distinguished lecturers. Dr David Marshall went on to teach Art History at the

University of Melbourne, becoming Associate Professor of Art. Whilst there, he supervised the

PhDs of La Trobe alumni Mark McDonald and Sue Russell. Julian Luxford went on to his current

position as Reader at St Andrews University after completing a Bachelor of Arts with Honours at

La Trobe and obtaining a PhD from Cambridge University where he also held the position of

Junior Research Fellow.

Dr Robert Nelson and Dr Vincent Alessi both combined curatorial and academic work. Robert

went on to work as Associate Professor in Monash University’s Office of Learning & Teaching.

Vincent Alessi was Director of LUMA, before moving on to work at the University of Melbourne’s

Ian Potter Museum. He is now back at La Trobe in a teaching capacity.

“I had to complete my final art history unit at Melbourne University. […] My

classmates were from a much smaller variety of cultural and socio-economic

backgrounds. This really drove home the impact of La Trobe's decision [to

discontinue Art History] in reducing student access to opportunities to

understand, contextualise and critically engage in Melbourne's vibrant visual

arts culture.”

Figure 45 Gillie and Marc, Run for your Life, 2014, Donated to La Trobe Bundoora by Wonderment Walk Victoria (Photo: La Trobe University Website)

43

The work of art historians doesn’t only happen in galleries and universities. Alumni Tracy Spinks

has gone on to work as the Managing Art Curator at Epworth Healthcare, and Dr Johanna

Bennett became the Senior Press Officer at Royal Academy of Arts, London. Alumnus Chris

Wood, former La Trobe Art History student and tutor, left teaching in 1977 to establish

Australians Studying Abroad. His organisation facilitates educational travel to 45 countries every

year, and provides for hundreds of people the opportunity to learn about history where it

happened.

The skill of observation, a key tenet of art historical education, has even filtered through to

Victoria Police. Sandra Nicholson, Chairperson of the Art History Alumni Chapter and one of La

Trobe’s Inspirational Alumni of 2016, completed her Bachelor of Arts while working as a

detective for Victoria Police, and credits her Art History education with teaching her to see

differently.

“It was an intensely enjoyable part of my education and I reflect on its

significance on almost a daily basis. I appreciate the curiosity and the

knowledge that it instilled in me and I'm deeply appreciative for all that the Art

History department gave me.”

Figure 46 Jock Clutterbuck, A New House Among the Stars, 1993 (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

44

New Beginnings

In 2018 La Trobe University will once again be teaching Art History as part of the Bachelor of Arts.

Building on the legacy of the discipline from past years, the new minor will offer students the

opportunity to investigate the role visual arts has played in shaping societies and communities

through the centuries.

This new program of study has been developed by Dr Lisa Beaven and Dr Vincent Alessi, both of

whom have had a long relationship with La Trobe University: Lisa as a lecturer and Vincent as a

student and staff member. After many conversations, over many years, Lisa and Vincent sat

down together in late 2016 and began discussing and mapping out what a new Art History

program might look like, settling on a model where creative practice would be investigated

thematically rather than strictly chronologically. Pleasingly, this approach, which acknowledges

that art responds to and shapes the society in which it is made, received the support of key

senior staff members in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr Adrian Jones and

Professor Tanya Fitzgerald and was endorsed by the School’s Course Committee. Both Lisa and

Vincent are excited by the possibilities of Art History once again being central to La Trobe’s

teaching and look forward to building on the rich legacy of the discipline at the University. They

are firm believers in the relevance of the discipline and La Trobe’s place in teaching generation of

students to understand both their own contemporary world and that of the past through the

visual arts.

Figure 47 Mandala Room, Level 3, David Myers Building, Bundoora (Photo: La Trobe University Media Library)

45

Beginning with a chronological survey in 1st year, students will be introduced to the Western Art

Historical cannon from the Renaissance through to Impressionism, building a foundation from

which to develop expertise in the history of visual arts by investigating how artists have engaged

through time with key themes such as the body, technology and landscape. A strong focus on

the object, and the materials from which it was made, will be matched by an exploration of its

social, cultural and political context, with the rigorous application of appropriate theories and

methodologies which will allow students to develop critical tools to understand a world which is

increasingly mediated by the visual images.

Endnotes

1 Belinda Nemec, La Trobe Art Institute Collection Project: Significance Assessment, (2016-2017), <http://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/830747/LTU-Collections-Significance-

Assessment_September-2017_Final.pdf>, p.15

2 ibid

3 Belinda Nemec, Significance Assessment, p.12

4 ‘Place bets for the Brisbane Literary Stakes’, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 August 1982 [webpage] <http://smharchives.smedia.com.au>; John Berger, Ways of Seeing, (London: Penguin Classics, 1972)

5 Lucy Ellem remembers teaching this subject from 1976

6 In the University of Melbourne handbook of 1977, Australian Art did not have its own dedicated subject and was included as one part of Fine Arts 1A in first year and again as one part of Fine Arts 3F in third year.

7 Richard Krautheimer, Rome: Portrait of a City, (United States: Princeton University press, 1980), p. xvi

8 Belinda Nemec, Significance Assessment, p.76

9 John Clarke was married to La Trobe Art History Alumna Helen MacDonald who completed her MA under the supervision of Peter Tomory and her PhD under the supervision of Robert Gaston

10 List and numbers of PhD and research projects being sourced at time of writing

11 Peter Tomory, ‘Folly Folly Upper Crust’, The British Art Journal, Vol. 5 / Issue 1 (1 April 2004), p. 80

12 See La Trobe University undergraduate handbooks for details of department changes

13 Joan Barclay Lloyd’s memory of that time: “Photocopies of journal articles were kept in filing cabinets in the Slide Library for the use of students from the time I arrived at the end of 1980. Handbooks became more sophisticated gradually in the 1990s with the introduction of new computer technology, but they did not include photocopies of reading material, which was still distributed by the Library or placed in filing cabinets in the Slide Library.”

14 Noel Fettling was responsible for the Mildura campus. We would be grateful for information about the tutors responsible for the other regional campuses.

46

Endnotes

20 PhD candidate Dominique Millar went to Sydney, Esther Theiler has just completed her PhD and Lauren Ryan and Christopher Scott are current PhD candidates, Joan Barclay Lloyd’s student was Julie Rowe who completed her PhD in 2014

21 Subject details and student numbers will be available in coming appendices

22 Professor John Dewar, ‘Proposed changes for HUSS’, La Trobe University [webpage], (21 June 2012) <http://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2012/article/proposed-changes-for-huss> ; The Organisational Change Impact Statement (OCIS) for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences was released on July 20 2012 – the OCIS process was a University-led exercise in reducing costs in the Faculty

23 It appears, based on Monash University Handbooks and accounts from supporters of La Trobe’s Art History programme, that Monash only allows students to specialise in art history in their honours year. It’s not listed as a major or minor in their Bachelor of Arts.

24 Centre for the History of Emotions, Change Programme led by Charles Zika, <http://www.historyofemotions.org.au/research/research-programs/change/>

25 Thalia Kingston sadly passed away on 9 November 2017, shortly before the completion of this project.

47

16 1998 La Trobe University Undergraduate Handbook, Art, Technology and Multimedia subject listing

17 University-published documents from Domenica Chincarini’s personal archive

18 The 2007 Undergraduate Handbook lists Richard Haese and Ian McPhee as having stayed on as lecturers for one more year, leaving at the end of 2007. However, accounts from past students and staff confirm that Richard Haese left Art History at La Trobe at the end of 2006.

19 2012 La University Trobe Handbook, <http://www.latrobe.edu.au/handbook//2012/undergraduate/humanities/disciplines/history.htm>

15 Alice E. Sanger and Siv Tove Kulbrandstad (eds.), Sense and the Senses in Early Modern Art and Cultural Practice, (England: Routledge, 2012), p. xiv; Susan Russell CV <https://independent.academia.edu/SusanRussell/CurriculumVitae>